Fuck, I hoped they didn’t use those on me.
“After recent developments, I have some follow-up questions,” she explained as her heels clicked across the floor to face me from the opposite side of the table. She didn’t sit. Rather, she remained standing, resting her palms on the tabletop, disappointed. “And if I feel that you’re lying to me, I will have no choice but to call in the Inquisitor. I’m offering you the opportunity to come clean on your own as a courtesy of being my sister’s son. You’re the second-rated Warrior of your generation. You’re just below my Chrome, so know I’m granting you some leniency with that in mind.”
I inhaled, nodding. The worst thing that could happen to the insurgency was for me to be questioned by the Inquisitor. Inquisitors were selected based on their energetic magic source—particularly one that could tell whether someone was lying. There was no getting around the Inquisitor. Being brought before him would put everything at risk.
“So, I’m going to ask you, Slate,” my aunt pushed. Something in her feline glare didn’t fit. A mixture of hope, desperation…no way. “Did my Chrome kill Kale Brighton?”
I knew the question before she asked it. Based on her hints of “recent developments” and the disappearance of Chrome in the past month, I knew something was going on. I could continue to lie, but if they already knew he’d committed the crime, then that meant this was a trap question that would lead me to the Inquisitor. I made up my mind about which game to play that would best protect the insurgency.
With a sigh, I relaxed into my seat, spreading my legs wide and propping my arms on the rests. I maintained Amethyst’s stare as I responded, “Yes. He did.”
Chapter 33
Chrome
“Up. Let’s go,” Grim ordered, snatching me to my feet. He slapped Elemental and Kinetic restricting bracelets to my wrists before unlocking the shackles, ensuring my magic remained cold in my veins.
The torture disfigured my bones, filleted my mind, and fragmented my soul. I couldn’t remember what it felt like to not be in agony. Grim hadn’t given me a chance to heal, and I wasn’t sure how I was even alive from my blood loss and collapsed lung.
Magic depletion incessantly slivered away my brain matter, or so it felt. I didn’t remember when I last ate. My stomach was desperate for crumbs, while I tried to conjure any saliva in my mouth to moisten my throat. Blood sometimes helped. My body had shut down, incapable of any function. I was essentially on a razor’s edge between being catatonic and completely feral. Thoughts of anything other than feeding my magic didn’t exist. The physical anguish had disappeared after some time.
Must replenish.
In a blurry haze of being dragged across the concrete hallway of the prison, I muttered unintelligible words to myself. Every so often, a beautiful girl with white-and-black hair that swirled together in a way that reminded me of marble appeared in my mind’s eye. Her blue eyes held so much pain, yet a hidden fire flickered in their depths. My heart squeezed whenever she appeared, as if she were important to me.
What was she?
From the depths of my mind, I could hear the squeal of a door open and shut. I was dropped to the floor on my back again, a fresh wave of torment flushing through my body. “Well, now that Slate has confirmed Chrome killed Kale, we can move forward.”
Frigid fingers wrapped around my limp and disjointed arms, pulling me to where I sat slumped in a metal chair. A sharp and bruising sting cut into my cheek. “Wake up, half-breed.”
One eye slit open only a fraction. Grim’s garish silhouette blurred my vision.
“Why were you in the prisons with the Endarkened?” he asked.
I couldn’t remember if I ever went down there. And I didn’t know what these Endarkened were that he spoke of. I just needed to stop my brain from being spliced into fine, tangled shreds. I desperately needed water, even if it was just a drop. And I needed an aura to feed from. I needed the power that slumbered in my veins. And for fuck’s sake, I needed Grim and Forest to quit mutilating my body with blades that set my blood on fire.
I mumbled something. Not any words, though. Another blow to my face jostled me.
“Why were you in the Endarkened block?” he asked again.
“Fuuuuggg you,” I slurred, my head dropping to where my chin hit my chest, sending an acute pain down my neck and broken spine.
Bony fingers latched onto either side of my jaw, digging in and jerking my head back up to face him. “Answer me, boy.”
Raspy, broken breaths came from my throat as a warm liquid trickled from my lips. My tongue swiped for it. The metallic taste wasn’t what I’d hoped for, only teasing me instead.
“We’re going to need to present him with more motivation,” Grim said over his shoulder, presumably to the king.
“Unfortunately, I believe you’re right,” he paused. “Bring in the next person. Remember what we discussed if we reached this point?”
A heavy pause suffocated the room, until Grim broke it with his outcry. “What!” he exclaimed. “No! You can’t be serious—”
“Did I ask for your lackluster fucking opinion?” the king snipped. My hearing began to cut in and out. “Celanea insists…” Even without a warped mind I wouldn’t have known who that was. “If he can resist the call…”
I tried to open my eyes, but they were too swollen and heavy. Gods, I’d do anything to replenish my magic. Anything to fix my body. And drink some water.
Theonlyreason I even knew who Grim and Forest were was because they’d been torturing me relentlessly for however long, never letting me forget their names when my mind started to wane.
